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Quantum Zeno Effect in the Quantum Non-Demolition Detection of Itinerant Photons

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics 2013-05-29 v2 Quantum Physics

Abstract

We analyze the detection of itinerant photons using a quantum non-demolition (QND) measurement. We show that the backaction due to the continuous measurement imposes a limit on the detector efficiency in such a scheme. We illustrate this using a setup where signal photons have to enter a cavity in order to be detected dispersively. In this approach, the measurement signal is the phase shift imparted to an intense beam passing through a second cavity mode. The restrictions on the fidelity are a consequence of the Quantum Zeno effect, and we discuss both analytical results and quantum trajectory simulations of the measurement process.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.0712.1908,
  title  = {Quantum Zeno Effect in the Quantum Non-Demolition Detection of Itinerant Photons},
  author = {Ferdinand Helmer and Matteo Mariantoni and Enrique Solano and Florian Marquardt},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0712.1908},
  year   = {2013}
}

Comments

4.5 pages, 3 figures